Inside Denim Issue 15

03 Editor’s letter:

Cover New-season launches for UK-based AllSaints lean heavily on denim.

Editors

Sophie Bramel

Clare Grainger

Consultant editor

Stephen Tierney

Publisher

Simon Yarwood

Design

Tim Button

Subscriptions manager

John Collins

Administration

Lisa Fabian-Smith

Editorial enquiries

clare@worldtrades.co.uk sophie@worldtrades.co.uk

Co-editor Clare Grainger wonders if wider knowledge of denim finishing might lead to safer chemicals selection.

04 Guest comment: Mariette Hoitink

The House of Denim and Jeans School co-founder witnesses the influence young designers can have when they enter the industry.

06 Global news

Some of the top stories from around the world.

SCIENCE BEHIND THE STYLE

08 Fighting inertia

A deep dive into what needs to be done to get new, more sustainable fibres to market, based on a Fashion for Good report.

14 Traceability first

Is mass balance out in cotton certification? The model is being reconsidered in favour of more robust physical traceability.

16 Roundtable: Chemicals

Six of the industry’s top experts tell us why it would be better if the whole supply chain had a greater understanding of how chemicals improve denim manufacturing.

Inside Denim heads to Intertextile Shanghai and finds out what denim mills there think of changing trade regimes

A Transformers Foundation report looks at the balance of power at multistakeholder initiatives.

Senior designer Mariella Ertl walks us through the design process and inspiration for the “year of denim”.

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The team behind UK denim finishing R&D and education provider LaundRe is seeing its vision become a reality in Canning Town.

A visit to Mentor, Canlioglu’s technical division, whose expertise in denim finishing knows no limits.

Lunasalt Denim’s Terrence Ruggiero appreciates the slower pace of the winter season as the sea works its magic on jeans and jackets in oyster nets off Nantucket.

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Challenging the status quo

One word we could all do with hearing less of at the moment – but probably won’t – is tariffs. With the political and trade landscape moving like quicksand and, at the risk of it all changing again while the magazine is on the presses, we took the opportunity to chat to denim mills at Intertextile Shanghai to get their take on it. Thankfully, their strategies mean it isn’t a major concern for the ones we spoke to.

Another prevalent phrase, and one that will only become more so, is “next-gen materials” . A new report from Fashion for Good and Boston Consulting suggests materials account for 91% of the fashion industry’s total emissions through their extraction, processing and production – which seems incredibly high – but the premise is that fashion needs to move towards lower-impact materials and support the start-ups in this space. By 2030, these novel materials could make up 8% of needs, compared with 1% today, with most of this coming from textile-to-textile recycling, they say. But are these materials reality or utopia, and how relevant are they in the denim sector? Katrin Ley tells us collaborative buying could be a way of offering start-ups the guarantees they need, with standardised fabric specifications lowering R&D and production costs. “There is no lack of financing,” she says, “but there is a lack of de-risking investment.”

Sadly, there does seem to be a lack of financing for innovative chemistry, according to some of the companies we spoke to for our Roundtable feature. Ploughing resources into creating dyes, chemicals and auxiliaries with lower impacts, even from natural or recycled raw materials, might not pay off when the products do not get the market uptake that had been hoped for. Even if the environmental benefits are clear and they are presented as cost-neutral, it can be hard to get brands and manufacturers to buy in. “After 40 years in the industry, I have to admit, I’m quite disillusioned,” one tells us. What’s the solution? Companies focusing less on profit, perhaps? Greater education and knowledge from the outset? Chemicals and finishing can seem complex – reducing agents, enzymes, oxidising agents, laser activators – do some designers want to know more, but don’t get the opportunity to leave their offices and learn?

In the UK, a new facility hopes to address this, bridging the knowledge gap between laundry and brand. At once a centre for refinishing, upcycling, R&D and education, LaundRe hopes to make the chemistry and finishing side more accessible and create a cohort of well-rounded denim designers and buyers, upskilling them with the knowledge to make informed choices and reactive collections – as well as offering a resource for refinishing garments already in the system.

Teaching these skills early on is also a key focus for the House of Denim’s Mariette Hoitink, who we are thrilled to have as this issue’s Guest Comment. She explains that equipped with the knowledge taught at Amsterdam’s Jeans School, the students “don’t just accept the status quo, they challenge it. And that’s exactly why we do this,” she says.

Elsewhere in the magazine, we ask whether the days of mass balance usage are numbered, Tilmann gets technical in Turkey, and AllSaints’ women’s denim director explains why 2025 is “all about denim”. Keep an eye on our website where you will find more of the industry’s influential voices through our Dialogues – as well as news updated daily (and hopefully not too much more about tariffs!).

Finally, a good point made by Orta’s Sebla Onder, on the development that mills put into hemp fabrics in recent years: “Don’t be so focused on the ‘next thing’, that you end up missing the potential of current ones.” A chat with any of denim’s suppliers will show there are a wealth of solutions out there if people are wiling to change.

We hope you enjoy the read.

Clare Grainger Co-Editor

clare@worldtrades.co.uk

Let’s talk talent and transparency

Denim isn’t just fabric – it’s a culture, a craft, a commitment. For me, it’s always been about the people behind the product. Whether they’re farmers in the cotton fields, artisans at the mills, designers and developers shaping the future, or students eager to carve out their own place in this industry, denim is nothing without its makers.

I was reminded of this again recently when I traveled to Turkey with House of Denim and Jean School students. Seeing their faces light up as they stepped inside the heart of the industry – witnessing cotton being spun into yarn, fabric woven with precision, and garments crafted and treated with skill – was a powerful moment. They weren’t just learning; they were connecting with the reality of our supply chain. And that’s exactly what this industry needs: transparency, education and an investment in the next generation.

If only consumers could witness what we did on that trip – the passion, the expertise, the sheer dedication behind every stage of making a pair of jeans. From plant to pant, it’s a chain of people, not just processes. And when we shift our mindset from ‘supply chain’ to ‘value chain’, we recognise the responsibility we all share in keeping this industry thriving, sustainable and fair.

Over 15 years ago, we launched the House of Denim Foundation with a radical idea: to create a sustainable not-for-profit denim hub for the industry and consumers with the world’s first school dedicated to denim, sustainability, innovation and craftsmanship. Because talent development isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s the foundation for a better industry.

Fast forward to today, and I see our students asking the kind of bold, uncompromising questions that make industry veterans pause: “Why are harmful chemicals still in use? Why aren’t sustainable practices the standard? What’s stopping brands from making more responsible choices?” These students don’t just accept the status quo, they challenge it. And that’s exactly why we do this.

Talent doesn’t emerge in isolation. It grows through real-world experience, mentorship and hands-on learning. That’s why we need industry partners –brands, manufacturers, and mills – to work with us in shaping the talent that will define the future of denim.

GUEST COMMENT

Mariette Hoitink, owner of talent agency HTNK and co-founder of the House of Denim Foundation and Jean School, with Denim City Amsterdam as her homebase, sees the education of talent as the key to the future of denim.

Incubating the next generation

During COVID, we realised something crucial. There’s an entire generation of passionate, skilled individuals who don’t fit neatly into the existing education system. They have the talent, the hunger and a love for denim, but they need guidance to bridge the gap between ambition and expertise in a different, more tangible way. That’s how the House of Denim Talent Incubator Programme was born. A partnership with the PVH Foundation helped make it happen, and today, it stands as a beacon of opportunity.

Think of it as a school of denim and a school of life rolled into one. It’s more than technical skills – it’s mentorship, mindset training, and career coaching. Participants gain hands-on experience in design, development, branding and entrepreneurship while also receiving one-on-one coaching, masterclasses and mental wellbeing support. They don’t just learn; they transform.

The results? Our talents have collaborated with high-end brands and designers. They’ve stepped up as educators themselves, passing on their knowledge. And many have landed inspiring jobs, started their own brands, bringing fresh perspectives into an industry that needs them more than ever.

But we can’t do this alone. If you’re a brand, imagine the impact of working directly with the next generation of designers and developers, shaping their education to fit the needs of a changing industry. If you’re a manufacturer, think about the power of exposing young talent to cutting-edge techniques and best practices, ensuring a new wave of skilled professionals entering the workforce. If you’re a mill, consider the value of engaging with students who are eager to innovate and push sustainability forward. This isn’t about charity; it’s about securing the future of denim. By investing in talent development, you’re ensuring that the next wave of denim professionals is prepared, skilled, and ready to lead.

This programme is deeply personal to me. I’ve seen first-hand what happens when you give young people the tools, the confidence and the network to succeed. They don’t just find jobs – they redefine what’s possible in denim. Now, I’m inviting you to be part of this journey. Whether you want to mentor, collaborate or simply learn more about how your company can play a role in shaping the future of talent, let’s talk. Reach out to me, and let’s build a brighter, bluer denim industry, together.

If only consumers could witness the passion, the expertise, the sheer dedication behind every stage of making a pair of jeans.

PHOTO: GIORGIO FIGINI

PHOTO: MIKA JANSEN

Global News

France A new Denim Deal consortium has been launched in France. Consultancy COSE361 will be the organisation’s lead in the country, and will provide guidance to denim brands seeking to make post-consumer recycled content an industry standard. France has a ten-year head start in applying extended producer responsibility and eco-modulation fees, it said. These are collected by Refashion to fund collecting, sorting and recycling of used clothing.

UK UK brand Dawson Denim has announced an "evolution": rather than from its workshop on England’s south coast, its best-loved pieces will now be crafted in Japan and will be sold through a bigger network of stores. The collection is built around 14.25oz organic selvedge, dyed with plant-based indigo and finished with laundry and hand-fading techniques created in workshops in Kojima, to the Dawson team’s designs. Every garment will be finished in the UK.

Germany Clothing group C&A will cease production at its FIT (Factory for Innovation in Textiles) factory in Mönchengladbach. The idea was to explore sustainable production methods and to determine whether these could work in Europe. “After a careful review of the results, the initiative did not meet the expectations set out in the original business case,” it said.

Finland Pulp maker Metsä Group is setting up a textile fibre mill for its man-made cellulosic fibre Kuura. It is now launching the pre-engineering phase, which is expected to continue until summer 2026. Metsä has been operating a demo plant since 2020, and its research has confirmed the feasibility of the mill, it said.

Spain Machinery and technology specialist Jeanologia organised an event at its headquarters in Valencia to inspire the next generation of leaders as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations. Speakers at the Next Gen Summit included Levi’s head of innovation, Bart Sights, who emphasised the importance of bringing bold ideas to the table. Participants also visited Mango’s headquarters.

Italy Machinery manufacturer Tonello has launched its first range of dryers, designed and manufactured in-house at its facilities close to Vincenza. The new line includes eight models from sampling to large-scale. Each machine features a touchscreen display, a temperature sensor and an enlarged transparent door. In February, Tonello bought Flainox, a dyeing machinery maker based in Quaregna Cerreto.

Denim mill Candiani has published a trends report that says wide-leg jeans will continue to be popular this year, but made with softer, more forgiving fabrics that drape beautifully. Meanwhile, barrel-leg jeans will be a key trend and “given their resurgence in popularity, it’s likely that bootcut jeans will trend prominently in the upcoming seasons”.

Beligium Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck has created a series of products for G-Star combining denim, innovation and experimentation. A key feature was to keep stitching to a minimum by choosing to glue and tape some of the seams. Mr Van Beirendonck has called the range ‘Denim with Balls’, which is to be taken literally, as threedimensional, round shapes are punched or knitted into the fabrics, and figuratively.

Ukraine Ukrainian denim brand KseniaSchnaider, the brainchild of husband and wife duo Anton and Ksenia, has released a limited-edition collection called ‘Think inside the box’, featuring square jeans that “offer an architectural twist on classic denim”. What began as a playful, slightly absurd experiment quickly evolved into a full-fledged conceptual study, said Anton Schnaider. The brand-owned production facilities are also located in Ukraine.

Denmark Fashion label Blanche has made its spring/summer 2025 Kokoro denim capsule entirely from Isko denim fabrics. The Copenhagen-based label has chosen Isko’s classic and bolder fabrics, including a flocked denim that Paolo Gnutti, a creative director for the mill, is known to favour.

Guatemala Guatemala-based denim designer Juan Carlos Gordillo has worked with Cone Denim and Jeanologia to create a collection, called Ethica. It features custom-designed Cone denims hand-painted by the designer. The finished garments were then sent to Jeanologia’s creative hub in Miami, where the Spanish company’s technologies were also used to emphasise the range’s handcrafted feel.

Brazil Denim manufacturer Vicunha has launched a renewable energy project in partnership with energy company Enel Group. Wind-generated electricity will power Vicunha manufacturing facilities in north eastern Brazil by the second half of this year. Last year, the company began to use reclaimed water in its denim production.

US Denim brand Wrangler has launched a collection made with fibres from the Accelerating Circularity project, now available at Walmart in the US. The Wrangler x Accelerating Circularity jeans contain 26% recycled cotton (50% post-consumer, 50% post-industrial), alongside virgin cotton and elastane for stretch. Partners included Bank & Vogue (post-consumer) and Martex (post-industrial); mechanical recycling by Giotex & Estopas; yarn production by Parkdale; and fabric production by Cone Denim.

Canada Canadian denim brand Naked & Famous has put yet another unconventional twist to denim with its latest Night Sky Selvedge jeans. Instead of an indigo-dyed warp combined with an undyed weft, the warp is sky blue, and the weft is black. When the jeans fade, the black weft yarns will gradually be exposed, creating a distinctive aesthetic.

Mauritius Denim mill Denim De I’Ile (DDI) teamed up with Mauritius Academy of Design and Innovation to help educate and inspire the next generation. The Academy trains students in fashion and textiles, graphic design and other areas, equipping them with skills for the future. It held an open day, showcasing the students’ work with DDI fabrics and garments.

Pakistan Soorty showcased its organic and regenerative cotton initiatives at the two-day Pakistan Agriculture Coalition’s expo at the Karachi Expo Centre. Company officials told Inside Denim they source organic cotton from Naal (Khuzdar), Balochistan, regenerative cotton from Bahawalpur, Punjab, and regenerative organic cotton from Lasbella, Balochistan, supporting the farmers with technical and financial aid. The company produces 9 million meters of fabric and 4.5 million garments per month in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Japan New Manual, a Japanese brand that specialises in reinterpreting iconic vintage styles, has created a capsule collection with the Tokyo-based branch of streetwear label Kith. The range includes a denim jacket with a deerskin collar inspired by 1930s cowboy styles and a pair of pants with details drawn from 1970s painter trousers.

China Ultra-fast fashion e-tailer Shein produced 380,000 pieces of denim apparel in 2024 using NTX’s Cool Transfer Denim Printing devices, and 200,000 in 2023. The process uses a transfer film to apply denim-like patterns and fades to a white twill fabric, and prints the back of fabrics with undyed warp motifs, doing away with indigo warp dyeing. The Prosperity Group helped develop the process with NTX.

Australia Industry trade body Cotton Australia expects the country’s cotton crop for the 2024-2025 season to be 4.8 million bales, generating around A$3.3 billion. Early cotton picking began before the end of January, but rains in February have encouraged farmers to leave cotton on many hectares “to grow on”, in some cases until May.

India Arvind has reported an 11% increase in revenue for the third quarter, driven by strong demand over the holiday season. It also benefited from a 13% rise in profits to $11.90 million. However, expenses rose 10% during the quarter due to high cotton prices.

Innovative fibres and processes that address environmental and social concerns could make up 8% of the fashion industry’s materials, or around 13 million tonnes, by 2030, up from 1% today, according to a report by Fashion for Good and Boston Consulting Group. Bringing these new solutions to market is proving to be slow. What is needed to unlock demand?

Tilting the scale

One pair of jeans or fashion item at a time, the apparel industry is accused of destroying the planet for the sake of style. The denim industry’s single-minded focus on cheaper prices, despite the garment’s universal popularity, puts it in a particularly critical position as pressure grows globally for change and a better future.

Yet the development and adoption of next-generation materials and processes with a lower environmental footprint is painfully slow. The report by Fashion for Good and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) examines the roadblocks and suggests pathways for progress.

“Scaling Next-Gen Materials in Fashion: An Executive Guide” focuses specifically on materials, and to a lesser extent on the many processes involved in making textiles, which will be covered in a future research paper. “Materials are a good basis for storytelling,” says Katrin Ley, head of Fashion for Good. They are also the physical foundation of clothing. The report claims that textiles account for 91% of the industry’s total greenhouse gas emissions through their extraction (24%), processing (15%) and production (52%). These figures come from a 2021 report by the World Resources Institute, based on data from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (now Cascale) and Textile Exchange. This percentage feels high, like most industry data, the raw material extraction phase is probably skewed in favour of synthetics. But that’s another story, and both reports stress the need to adopt next-generation technologies to lessen the burden the industry exerts on the planet.

An array of future fabrics

The report defines next-generation materials as any innovative fibre having “enhanced sustainability, performance or functionality” that is in development or early commercialisation and requires “further technological advancement and cost optimisation for widespread adoption”.

Fibres recycled from textile waste are expected to make up the bulk of the next-gen material basket across all families: manmade cellulosic (MMCF), synthetic and natural fibres. The market penetration of MMCFs made from non-wood pulp, bio-based synthetics and biotech-derived materials, such as Spiber’s Brewed Protein, is expected to remain marginal (see panel at end of article for an overview of production volumes).

Recycled cotton plays a leading role in the world of next-gen materials, as it could reach a market share of around 4% with the advantage, according to the report, of “preserving the key characteristics of natural cotton”. This squares well with current practices in the denim industry. The Denim Deal, in its first iteration in the Netherlands, showed that it was possible to make 5 to 20% post-consumer recycled cotton content an achievable benchmark in denim fabrics. Mills participating in the programme, such as Bossa, see the lower threshold as a realistic goal. It has effectively become a market standard, with the caveat that most recycled cotton comes from production waste, not used jeans.

Mainstreaming recycled cotton

At AGI Denim, nearly all denim fabrics now have 5% recycled content. “After discussions with our customers and various assessments, it was decided to integrate at least 5% cotton into our denim fabrics,” says Henry Wong, head of product development and marketing for North America for the Pakistan-based mill. “This percentage does not affect quality, fabric specifications, or lead times. It may be a small proportion, but it can have a great impact over large volumes.”

Candiani Denim, in Italy, has also successfully made recycled references a new norm. Regen, which combines 50% post-industrial cotton fibres with 50% Tencel Lyocell with Refibra Technology won a sustainability award at ITMA in 2019.

On average, US farmers plant about 90 million acres of corn each year, with most grown in the Heartland region (20 states in the middle of the country) – it is the starch that will go into Lycra’s fibre. The US is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of corn in the world.

PHOTO: LYCRA

Nearly every denim fabric produced by AGI Denim, in Pakistan, contains 5% recycled cotton fibres. PHOTO: AGI DENIM

the presence of recycled cotton fibres from post-consumer jeans in its denims.

Italian mill Candiani Denim has partnered with Humana People to People Italia to scale up

PHOTO: CANDIANI DENIM

“More importantly, it has been chosen by many brands in the premium and luxury segment as their main fabric, proving our ability to recycle without penalising aesthetics,” Simon Giuliani, Candiani’s global marketing director, tells Inside Denim. Making a denim fabric from post-consumer recycled cotton has been more challenging, he says, as “these fibres are much weaker than post-industrial ones”. The mill launched its PCR denim in 2022, a fabric incorporating up to 30% post-consumer recycled fibres (exclusively from end-of-life jeans) and 70% Blue Seed Cotton fibres, grown regeneratively in Spain. “The longer and stronger Blue Seed Cotton fibres made it possible to reach such a high percentage of recycled content.” The resulting denim’s proximity, traceability, circularity and quality allowed Gucci to take home the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Award for Circular Economy at the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana’s Sustainable Fashion Awards in 2023.

“Recycled cotton is already in the system and is almost mainstream now,” agrees Sebla Onder, head of sustainability for Orta. She notes that it still poses some quality issues and, without traceability, can be problematic. The Turkey-based mill has been recycling cotton since 2007, but its goal is not – yet – to develop 100% recycled cotton fabrics. “We do not want to compromise on the look, performance, quality or any process parameters such as energy consumption or waste generation during production. So, we do our homework and if a fabric scores A+ then it finds its place in the collection,” she says.

Ms Onder sees “a hunger for innovation in the sector” but notes that it can also go into overdrive. This was the case when Orta launched denims made from cottonised hemp. “We used the market’s most responsible hemp, grown without any harmful chemicals, pesticides, rain fed only, processed without water, and so on. While the fibre itself was a challenge in production at the time, one of the first reactions coming from the market was: is there a recycled hemp version of this?” This, she says, still shocks her. “We are so focused on the ‘next thing’, that we end up missing the potential of current ones.”

Denim mills have ostensibly “done their homework”, for the most part, in making recycled cotton content prevalent. But how well do other next-gen fibres fare? The Fashion for Good and BCG report cites Tencel as an early example of a more sustainable alternative to viscose. It is relatively widespread and it has been used to promote “100% non cotton” jeans, yet it plays a minor role in denim.

Generation Hemp (or Gen H) is Orta’s hemp-based range of denims in blends with recycled cotton, organic cotton and Tencel x Refibra Technology.

PHOTO: ORTA

The gold standard in jeans is to never stray from the authentic cotton denim feel, and this may affect its uptake by the industry. “Lyocell adds drape, softness and shine to a fabric. It elevates denim to luxury rather than authenticity,” says Ms Onder, who does not see demand for the fibre growing. Mr Wong at AGI makes the same point: “The presence of lyocell, above a certain percentage, removes the fabric from the world of denim, unless we make certain adjustments. Otherwise the fabric will not have the right hand or colour, or it may be too shiny.”

A history of slow market adoption

Elastane is cited as another next-gen fibre. Its sustainability credentials may not be the strongest, but it has played a major role in improving comfort and fit, and extending the life of jeans. Its evolution through time provides a glimpse of how new fibres have scaled in the past. The report notes that when Lycra was first introduced in the 1950s, it cost $100 per kilogramme, by the 1980s DuPont had reduced the price to $35-40/kg. When it entered denims, in the early 1990s, it was $25/kg and the development of Asian production brought its price down to $5-9/kg. On that basis, what are the prospects for the new natural and biobased stretch yarns that are seeking a place in the market? Candiani famously invested heavily in the development of a natural rubber-based stretch yarn, Coreva, to modest success. The Lycra Company is now engaged in a vast campaign to secure adoption of its new partially biobased EcoMade Lycra elastane to launch industrial production. There may however be some resistance, due to its higher cost.

Renewcell’s troubles confirm the difficulty of bringing an innovative and sustainable alternative to market. Investment in the industry darling totalled some $140 million, with global retailer H&M among its backers, and production from the pilot line bought by Inditex, PVH, Bestseller, Levi’s, Ganni and H&M, notes Tricia Carey in a paper she co-authored with Robert Antoshak for the Stanford Social Innovation Review last July. Reasons for the company’s failure include bad timing, the factory was set up during the pandemic, soaring inventories, high shipping costs and the resource-intensive sourcing of used clothing. Pricing was also an issue, as when Circulose entered the market, virgin cellulosic fibres faced low cyclical prices. She believes the business would have been stronger had a licensing model been chosen, which would have provided the start-up with ongoing revenue. For Katrin Ley, at Fashion for Good, a key lesson learned is to avoid an IPO, as financial markets do not have the patience to allow a new fibre to find its place in the market.

Unlocking financing is the crux of the matter for next-gen material innovators, who need both working capital to buy equipment and longer-term support to build demand. “There is no lack of financing,” says Ms Ley, “but there is a lack of de-risking investment.” The three levers to scaling that the report outlines are, first, to secure demand, second, to devise a way to lower costs or reach an acceptable transitional price, and then seek venture capital or private equity. She points to the examples of a few textile-to-textile recyclers’ solutions for scaling: Syre, funded by H&M and TPG’s long-vision Rise Climate fund; Circ’s diverse range of backers, from investors to brands; and Ambercycle’s drive to secure industrial partnerships globally.

With partner Circ-Ready suppliers and a Fibre Club, a new programme to pool development and design processes, Circ is leveraging industry support to launch its textile-to-textile recycling technology.

PHOTO: CIRC

“Innovators need to align their technology with the practices of incumbent manufacturers,” she insists. Reju’s financial and engineering partner Technip, and Infinited Fiber’s latest €40 million funding round, which includes major retailers and apparel manufacturers as well as investors, are two other constructive models.

Collaboration counts

Since its launch in 2017, Fashion for Good has created countless pre-competitive collaborative projects to bring innovative and sustainable solutions to market. Hundreds of start-ups have benefited from the networking opportunities with manufacturers, and advice the programme provides to win over investors. “Developing the technology is only 10% of the business as the entire ecosystem needs to be considered,” says Ms Carey drawing on her experience at Renewcell. The Swedish company had set up a Circulose Supplier Network, which still have Circulose sheets in stock, but it did not save the company from bankruptcy.

Circ has also set up a network of Circ-Ready manufacturing partners. The company has developed a process to recycle polycotton waste through a separation technology that depolymerises the polyester and extracts cellulose pulp from the cotton content. It is now pioneering a new framework, known as Fibre Club, led by Fashion for Good, with Canopy as an advisor. It brings together innovators, brands and manufacturers with a clearly stated goal of moving from pilot (a capsule collection) to commercial product to secure offtake for the material innovator.

“Fibre Club is designed to provide a workaround to the high minimum order quantities (MOQs) that are imposed on buyers, especially at fibre and yarn stage,” Arshiya Lal, Circ’s director of business development, tells Inside Denim. While big retailers like H&M and Zara can often reach MOQs, this system makes it possible to pool the orders of smaller brands that would like to use Circ recycled yarns.

Four brands are a part of this Fibre Club – Everlane, Bestseller, Eileen Fisher and Zalando – along with fibre producer Birla Cellulose and two mills, Arvind and Foshan Chicley Textiles. Brands will have access to a certain Circ lyocell yarn, which will contain 30% recycled cotton pulp, and focused fabric developments.

Several biotech indigo pigments are in the works. Citizens of Humanity’s s/s 2025 collection features a denim fabric made by Orta and dyed using a biotech indigo developed by Pili Bio, marking the first commercial launch of its novel pigment.

PHOTO: LAURENCE ELLIS / CITIZENS OF HUMANITY

“Our R&D and their technologists worked hand in hand to improve this dye, so we are confident that it has a bright future in the sector,” says Sebla Onder. Its low carbon footprint compared to petrochemical indigo (50% lower according to Pili’s LCA analysis) is a big draw, and Orta has found that it poses no manufacturing issues during dyeing or finishing. It is, however, more expensive than conventional indigo. “If you are only concerned about price, this is not your product. But if you are taking a holistic approach and are looking for regenerative solutions to add to your product portfolio, then Pili is your solution.”

Brands looking for novel solutions may not fully grasp the implications of their demands, as Efthimia Lioliou, co-founder and COO of Synovance, which is also developing a biotech indigo pigment, has experienced. The testing imposed by brands puts a strain on small companies. “Brands insist on testing. Often, they will gradually increase its scale, from 1-5 kg to 20 kg and then 100-200 kg for a capsule collection. This requires a commitment in the form of investment, joint development, or a deposit. Brands expect start-ups to de-risk their project on their own, with only a promise to buy when the quantities are there,” she tells Inside Denim

Scaling is often described as a chicken-and-egg situation: should a start-up first build capacity and then see if there is demand, or should it court buyers, secure offtake commitments, and then seek funding for industrialisation?

Developing standardised fabric specifications is seen as low-hanging fruit in bringing new materials to market. Making a series of fabrics from a single yarn type can make it easier to reach commercial scale and may also reduce waste, both of time and material. Fashion for Good intends to extend the Fibre Club template to other select groups of stakeholders. “Developing standardised fabric specifications helps lower R&D and production costs,” notes Ms Ley. “And once large-scale production is achieved, free market rules and open competition can then kick in.”

Support in scaling

Innovators undeniably need the expertise of fibre and fabric manufacturers to successfully bring their technologies to market. Mills are often open to innovating and assisting start-ups, but without offtake commitments, it may not be worth the time or resources. Brands and retailers could drive adoption, but they have mostly outsourced their sustainability commitments to their sprawling supply chains.

Despite being one of the industry’s key hot spots, the development of cleaner dyes and dyeing processes is one of the most glaring blind spots in the apparel manufacturing supply chain. Indigo, in particular.

Orta recently developed a denim fabric dyed with a biotech indigo made by French start-up Pili Bio.

The Fashion for Good report suggests several avenues to pave the way to market, and also predicts that demand for these materials will outpace supply by 2030. Why bother, one could ask. Tightening regulations could be one reason to transition. A broader implementation of extended producer responsibility schemes is expected and the ban on cotton imports from China has already deeply disrupted the denim and jean supply chain. More meaningfully, the report points out that business is already impacted by climate change. It cites the floods in Pakistan and extended droughts in Australia that affected cotton and wool production in recent years. It could also have mentioned the heat waves in Southeast Asia. More than material sourcing, they have had a critical impact on garment manufacturing, an essential part of the fashion ecosystem. So while a utopian greener future calls, a stark reality is already here.

Market penetration of next-gen materials

In its roundup of next-gen fibres, the Fashion for Good and BCG report has assessed the potential production volumes of each family of materials. It assumes a global fibre market of 160 million tonnes by 2030, with the average weight of each fibre group remaining stable. From this, the report estimates that there is potential for 13 million tonnes of next-gen materials to enter the market by 2030, representing ~8% of the total fibre market (vs ~1% in 2024).

Natural fibres: from recycling (~1.4 Mt) and cottonised bast fibres

Synthetics: textile-to-textile chemical recycled polyester (~7.4 Mt), textile-to-textile chemical recycled PA (~0.5 Mt) and biosynthetics (~0.3 Mt).

Animal fibres: biotech (~0.1 Mt).

Sources: Fashion for Good data and analysis; Textile Exchange, Materials Market Report 2024; BCG.

Lenzing was the first company to market lyocell, a cleaner alternative to viscose, and is also leading the way in integrating a portion of pulp from cotton waste into its yarns, with Refibra Technology. The fibre was featured in a trend collection made by Japanese denim mill Kaihara.

PHOTO: LENZING/TETSUYA MUKUME

Manmade cellulosic fibres: from textile-to-textile recycling (~1.6 Mt) and alternative feedstock (~0.7 Mt).

(~0.3 Mt).

Certification schemes use mass balance accounting when physical traceability is deemed unfeasible, as is the case for cotton. But its inherent lack of transparency has raised real questions, and it is accused of opening the door to greenwashing. The good news is that the controversial system is now topped with more robust traceability measures.

Reconsidering mass balancing

Mass balance is commonly used for all sorts of commodities. In organic and fair-trade markets, it is presented as a pathway to more responsible products. The problem, as critics of the system point out, is that it does not guarantee, for cotton notably, the presence of a more sustainably or fair-trade farmed fibre in a given product, and its principles are never clearly described on any eco-label. It is misleading for the consumers and therefore a form of greenwashing.

While its workings are not complicated to understand, its benefits are. Proponents of this model often cite green energy as a virtuous application of the concept: when available, solar or wind power is fed into the grid, when lacking, conventional non-renewable resources supply the electricity. This system may encourage a smooth transition to cleaner energy, but there is no way of knowing, when you flip a switch, what type of energy powers the lights.

The model is mainly used for raw materials that are indiscriminately mixed at an early stage of a supply chain, which is the case for cotton. Better Cotton and Aid by Trade (AbTF), for its Cotton made in Africa label, apply mass balance to attribute responsible practices to farmers. Both organisations however have sensed a wind of change in market acceptance and are introducing systems based on physical tracers to offer stronger guarantees of provenance.

“Mass balance has valid use cases,” says Jeffrey Thimm, production specialist at Global Standard Organic (GOTS), citing renewable energy and carbon credits as examples. “Especially for offsetting, whereby in-house emissions are balanced with carbon credits from projects that sequester carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere. The CO2 being ‘bought’ is not the same physical CO2 being ‘sold’, but the atmosphere does not care.” However, he maintains that for a physical product, “whether to ensure that your purchase has a positive impact on people and planet, or at a minimum does not support destructive practices such as forced labour or deforestation, the actual product, its ingredients and its manufacturing processes have to be physically traced.”

He adds that for countries with strict customs barriers or tariffs based on country of origin, such as the United States, mass balance schemes provide no protection for importers as only chain of custody systems truly contribute to a company’s due diligence framework.

AbTF’s new Transparency Standard makes it possible to trace the fibre from origin to finished product. This, the organisation says, is increasingly crucial for retailers and brands in light of rising transparency and due diligence regulations.

PHOTO: ISABELA PACINI FOR ABTF

The switch to traceability

Better Cotton, a Swiss non-profit, has mass balanced cotton produced according to its guidelines since its inception in 2009. “It is the chain of custody model that laid the foundation for Better Cotton, helping scale our programme and bring immense value to farming communities,” says a company spokesperson. When a brand or retailer becomes a member of the organisation, it can then “make ‘claims’ about commitments made to Better Cotton, and the impact of those commitments”.

But the organisation has decided to phase out its original Mass Balance Chain of Custody in favour of a physical tracer-based system, which it will use to back a new certification scheme it is also launching this year. From 2025 on, a Better Cotton label will only be allowed on products made from cotton sourced through the traceability programme. Companies that are not members of Better Cotton or an authorised organisation will not be allowed to make any claims and those members that do wish to make claims will now be required to undergo third-party auditing. This will help create a more trustworthy environment for buyers, and consumers, seeking to purchase more sustainably made products.

The Better Cotton Traceability platform was launched in November 2023 after three years in development and extensive consultations, the organisation says. A physical tracer layer is now added to mass balance accounting in its new chain of custody framework. This makes it possible to trace Better Cotton back to its country of origin, and in time, back to a farm.

The programme nonetheless allows various levels of physical integrity, from single country or multi-country segregation to ‘controlled blending’. It also includes a new digital data collection platform.

The more stringent framework of Traceable Better Cotton was introduced “as a result of significant demand from across the fashion and textile industries, including our brand and retail members,” says the spokesperson. “Traceability ensures that we remain fit-for-purpose.” The alternative it faced was diminishing demand, and thus fewer farmers growing ‘Better Cotton’. Along with possible greenwashing litigation.

Providing proof of origin

The Aid by Trade Foundation, based in Hamburg, Germany, is taking similar measures with the launch of its new Transparency Standard. Prior to this, a company spokesperson says, two systems were used for Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) cotton. Hard Identity Preserved tracks cotton from bale to finished product. In this case, “CmiA cotton may not be mixed with other cotton at any stage of production” and “must always be stored and processed separately throughout the entire textile production process, from the cotton to the yarn to the fabric,” says an AbTF spokesperson.

company BASF applies a mass balance model to its recycled or biomass-derived chemicals. They have the exact same properties as conventional ones, but there is no way to know if any recycled or biomass content is actually present in a product.

Under the second, Mass Balance system, “CmiA-verified cotton is strictly separated from other cotton until arriving at the spinning mill”. At this stage, however, it can be mixed with cotton of other origins.

AbTF’s new traceability platform adds an extra layer of guarantees atop these two streams, which continue to be in operation for both CmiA and Regenerative Cotton Standard (RCS). It includes mandatory audits by independent controls reviewing tracking-system data and associated documents. “The digital transaction documents are an important aspect of assurance,” the spokesperson points out. Here, too, the aim is to provide greater transparency. “With the AbTF Transparency Standard, you can not only verify whether a T-shirt or pair of jeans is physically made from CmiA or RCS-verified cotton, but also trace the cotton from its origin to the finished product throughout the global textile supply chains.”

The trend towards higher levels of security or insurance, which is the basic role of certification, is thus switching to physical traceability and third-party auditing, for Better Cotton. This may change the landscape for the dominant form of cotton farmed today. The organisation says that 5.47 million tonnes of Better Cotton were produced in the 2022-23 season, representing more than a fifth of global cotton production.

“BCI [British Cotton Initiative] was correct to focus on mass balance for its first 15 years of existence. This claims system reflects the on-ground realities of commodity trading where gins, spinners and fabric mills need to blend to manage their performance risks,” says Crispin Argento, founder and CEO of Sourcery, a farm to fashion, or Direct-to-Grower, platform for cotton sourcing. “Unfortunately, without segregation and identity preservation, it is not empirically and scientifically possible to prove that the product sold is indeed pure.” Sourcery does not allow any product claims whatsoever and does not endorse third-party claims. “Even though our partners trade substantial amounts of preferred fibres in our system, that is for others to prove,” he says.

In a paradoxical turn of events, while cotton organisations are phasing out mass balancing, the chemicals industry is promoting the model to support so-called advanced chemical recycling technologies, in which conventional oil and plastic waste are mixed and processed in a single production line. Major companies such as BASF and Eastman successfully convinced Textile Exchange to modify the scope of its Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and Recycled Content Standard (RCS) to allow for mass balancing and advanced chemical recycling in 2024.

Mass balancing was introduced decades ago, when tracing and verifying every batch of raw material on its way through the global supply chain was inordinately complicated. The development of widespread, and more affordable, digital technologies, along with advanced tracing systems, including forensic testing, appears to be tipping the balance in favour of true traceability.

Chemical

PHOTO: BASF

What do auxiliary chemicals do exactly and why do we need to know? Denim’s top chemists explain how their expertise helps create the magic – and why a few more cents at garment level makes a lot more sense for the environment.

Chemical reactions

Can you tell us about your flagship product/s, in simple terms, and how they create the magic?

Peter Zinser: We have developed the Nature Conscious Dyeing (NCD) process. With our pre-reduced liquid Indigo solutions – our DenimBlu range – and BluMate, a newly developed product, which replaces hydrosulfite, we are able to produce fashionable and authentic indigo-dyed denim, which is free of hydrosulfite and, if required, aniline free. The NCD process has the potential to be a game-changer for the industry: the most natural it can get.

Thomas Aplas: CHT launched a potassium permanganate (PP) substitute in 2015. OrganIQ Bleach T has hardly any differences in terms of application, and the result is indistinguishable. The curse is that nothing, no ecologically sustainable alternative, can be cheaper than PP or even chlorine bleach. This means that any real turn towards more ecological production in jeans treatment is associated with additional costs, which are unfortunately very rarely accepted. In 2024, the marketing of OrganIQ Bleach T was discontinued due to a lack of success –we are talking about additional costs of €0.2 to €0.3 per jeans – devastating! Nevertheless, development continued. Products and processes for water and energy savings, developed with the leading machinery manufacturers, or replacements for chlorine bleach and even pumice stones, are the current flagships.

Luca Braschi: We define as flagship innovations all those breakthroughs that have revolutionised the way we wash garments, setting new industry standards. One such innovation is undoubtedly Lumia. Its magic? Creating a stunning stone-bleached effect without stones or bleaching agents. Even more impressive, Lumia requires zero water consumption during its application and reaction, making it a game-changer for brands seeking true sustainability. Have you ever seen a bleach that works without water? This single product is effective on blue denim, black denim and dyed garments, replacing multiple hazardous chemicals and drastically reducing chemical stock. It is one of the most effective synergies between chemical and technological innovation, as it activates ozone under dry conditions. Alberto de Conti: Many of our flagship products are centred around innovative chemical solutions that enhance the performance, sustainability and aesthetics of textiles while being either of biological origin or developed through biomimicry. For example, our Bionic Finish range revolutionises denim finishing by reducing water, energy and chemical consumption while delivering exceptional softness and durability. The ‘magic’ lies in our ability to combine cutting-edge chemistry with sustainability, creating products that not only perform exceptionally but also align with the industry’s growing demand for eco-conscious solutions.

Andrea Venier: Our magic lies not only in our 30 years of experience in chemical research and application for the textile industry, but also in our unique ability to blend creativity with sustainability. We believe that true innovation is born from a mix of passion, curiosity, teamwork, and the right amount of madness. We approach every challenge with the understanding that aiming for “zero impact” is a myth. Instead, our focus is on minimising and improving impact through smart, innovative technologies. Aqualess Mission is a product range that enables brands to achieve stone-wash and bleaching effects with minimal water use. It’s a true game-changer in regions where water scarcity is a critical issue. Meanwhile, Recycrom embodies our commitment to circularity. This patented dyestuff is made entirely from recycled clothing and textile fibres, which are upcycled into vibrant powders suitable for dyeing natural fibres, blends and garments.

Roundtable panel

Peter Zinser

Managing director, BluConnection, Singapore.

Thomas Aplas

Head of garment textile auxiliary solutions, CHT, Germany.

Luca Braschi

Marketing and technology manager, Soko Chimica, Italy.

Alberto di Conti

Head of Rudolf Fashion Division, Germany.

Andrea Venier

Managing director, Officina39, Italy.

Serdar Demircioğlu

Sales and marketing director, Kaiser Tekstil, Turkey.

Serdar Demircioğ lu: Traditional denim washing requires large amounts of water and pumice stones, which lead to waste and fabric damage. Our advanced enzyme technology with Lava Cell NSY delivers authentic vintage looks without using water or stones, reducing environmental impact and increasing efficiency. Our ozone activator (Lava Con OZN) enhances the bleaching effect of ozone on dry garments, making the process faster, more consistent and even more sustainable by minimising chemical usage. Lava Con LAC (laser enhancer) improves the contrast and sharpness of laser markings, ensuring crisper patterns, better burn effects and higher efficiency in laser finishing. Lava Con LSB (laser smoothing agent) prepares fabric for laser processing by evening out fibre structure, leading to smoother, more uniform laser applications with reduced defects. Lava Con PBA is a safe and sustainable alternative to potassium permanganate, delivering the same high-contrast vintage and worn-out effects without harmful residues.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions about chemicals?

Peter Zinser: There are not many misconceptions about chemicals within in the industry, but there are misconceptions among consumers who don't understand chemistry. I believe the importance of chemicals in our daily life is widely understood. However, there are greenwashing campaigns and other (social) media influencing the consumers in a questionable way. Explanation of chemicals’ behaviour and education is not happening sufficiently.

Thomas Aplas: On Valentine's Day, I read a funny but also interesting post from one of our competitors, the Rudolf company: “Did you know that oxytocin and dopamine play a key role in falling in love? Chemistry is more romantic than you think!” A very nice reminder that chemistry is not only in us, but in much more than we think. This proliferation is not to be understood in a negative way. Take formaldehyde, for example: a harmful substance that is now avoided wherever possible in the textile industry is contained in apples at around 20mg per kilo. And this does not come from pesticides. Or potassium permanganate, the most harmful chemical in jeans bleaching, is available in pharmacies as a disinfectant. Careful production, correct application and the quantity used are important. Because this is not always taken into account, the biggest misunderstanding is that ‘chemicals = bad’.

Luca Braschi: The primary misconception is that chemicals are inherently harmful. Chemistry is a part of our lives, whether we like it or not. Just as nature contains both harmful and harmless chemicals; in our research, we always strive to use raw materials that comply with safety standards or come from natural sources.

Alberto de Conti: One of the biggest misconceptions is that all chemicals are harmful or unsustainable. In reality, modern chemical innovations are often designed to solve environmental challenges. For example, the latest generation of Rudolf’s technologies are made out of renewable raw materials, eliminating hazardous substances and improving recyclability. Another misconception is that bio-based alternatives are always better. This isn’t necessarily true, as synthetic chemicals can be engineered to be safe and very efficient.

Officina39’s Recycrom dye range, originally launched in 2017, has been updated to include Ready To Dye – a range of in-stock colours, obtained from a minimum of 65% recycled pre- and post-consumer textile materials.

PHOTO: OFFICINA39

Rudolf offers a wide range of products that aid ageing and effects on denim. Some of its more recent ranges focus on biomimicry and natural raw materials.

PHOTO: RUDOLF

Andrea Venier: One of the most common misconceptions is that chemicals can be completely eliminated. The truth is: chemistry is everywhere, it is the foundation of our world. The key lies not in avoidance but in choosing the right chemicals and using them responsibly. In the textile industry, for example, even if we replace the most hazardous substances, we can’t simply substitute them with water, otherwise, we lose the functionality. It’s about smart substitution and responsible use, not the impossible pursuit of a chemical-free world.

Serdar Demircioğ lu: Many people assume that all chemicals are dangerous, but in reality, chemicals are essential to modern life. The key is responsible formulation and usage. Another is that natural is always better than synthetic. While natural ingredients have their benefits, not all natural substances are safe, and not all synthetic chemicals are harmful. There’s a common belief that eco-friendly chemicals aren’t as effective as traditional ones or that more chemicals equals better results. But in denim washing, using excessive amounts of chemicals can actually damage fabrics and increase waste.

Is there anything you’d like designers or other industry people to know more about, when it comes to the chemistry or innovation in chemicals?

Peter Zinser: Of course, I’d prefer that designers and other people in the industry have some basic knowledge and are interested in the application of dyes and chemicals. However, this is wishful thinking, and it’s rare that we encounter real interest in the behaviour of chemicals. Making denim better should be not only in our interest but also in designers’ and retailers’ interest.

Thomas Aplas: With most ecological alternative bleaching agents for denim, we can achieve almost identical bleaching results to chlorine bleach or PP. Only “almost” because, despite the perfect bleaching effect, the colour tone of a blue denim almost always looks a little greyer. It is no less beautiful. But if this is not accepted, you are closing off many opportunities to become significantly more ecological. So, my appeal to all creative people is to look at the possibilities! There are many good things.

Luca Braschi: I would appreciate it if they were open to accepting that chemical products enhance the washing process, often making it more sustainable. For instance, try washing dishes without soap – you'll see how much more water you need to use. Chemical innovation brings fresh ideas in both sustainable concepts and creative aesthetics. Designers are always seeking inspiration, and chemicals often unlock a diverse range of effects.

Alberto de Conti: I’d like designers and industry professionals to understand that chemistry is a powerful tool for innovation and sustainability. Advanced chemical solutions can enable closed-loop systems, reduce waste and create fabrics with unique properties like self-cleaning surfaces or enhanced durability. Collaboration between chemists and designers is key – by understanding the possibilities of chemistry, designers can push the boundaries of creativity while staying aligned with sustainability goals.

Andrea Venier: We would love for designers and industry professionals to take a closer look at alternative solutions. Too often, these options are dismissed prematurely because they are perceived as more expensive or challenging to implement. We are dedicated to bridging this knowledge gap by educating the supply chain and providing hands-on experiences to showcase the true potential of our solutions. A perfect example is our Zero PP product package. Our goal was not only to achieve the same aesthetic and functional effects as PP but also to prove that sustainability does not always come at a higher cost. In fact, for this solution, the costs are comparable to the traditional method.

Serdar Demircioğ lu: Many assume eco-friendly solutions are more expensive, but in reality, sustainable chemistry often improves process efficiency, reducing waste and operating costs. The best denim finishes happen when designers and chemical experts work together. By understanding the capabilities of modern chemicals, designers can push creative boundaries without compromising sustainability or efficiency.

How does the chemical company/tech supplier/manufacturer/brand relationship work in terms of chemicals, and who has the buying power?

Peter Zinser: The selection of the chemicals lies in the hands of the denim mills and the laundries/garment finishing facilities. We also see some (half hearted) influence from the retailers in the name of sustainability...however, in the end, the whole supply chain is not environmentally driven but cost-driven. Greenwashing campaigns from the retailers seem to be cheaper than real sustainability improvements. The communication and relationship in the spirit of environmental improvements between the different players is not sufficient, especially when it comes to the use of chemicals. The majority of the market doesn't really care, I repeat: they are strictly cost-driven.

Thomas Aplas: The buying power lies with the laundries and dye houses themselves. And I think that's right in most cases. That's where the experts are, and they should know exactly what they need, given the local conditions and requirements. However, the requirements should be clearly specified and monitored by the brands. We see the greatest difficulty in setting moderate achievable requirements, providing resources for implementation and monitoring compliance. (By moderate, I don't mean low requirements. I mean, for example, that you don't stipulate compliance with five different standards, but focus on one that makes sense. Unfortunately, this happens often.)

Luca Braschi: The choice of a chemical product doesn’t always follow a predefined formula. Some brands are more involved in product selection, while others focus solely on achieving the desired aesthetic outcome, regardless of the chemistry behind it – this is especially true for basic chemicals like enzymes, dispersants, oxidising agents, etc. Innovative chemical products, however, take a different path. They hold greater appeal for both brands and contractors aiming to achieve new sustainability or marketing goals.

Alberto de Conti: The relationship is highly collaborative. Chemical companies work closely with manufacturers and brands to develop tailored solutions that meet specific performance, aesthetic and sustainability requirements. While brands often drive the selection process based on their vision and consumer demands, the expertise of textile manufacturers and chemical suppliers is crucial in delivering innovative and sustainable solutions.

Andrea Venier: The chemical sector often carries the perception of having the highest environmental impact in the supply chain, as it involves multiple steps and products to achieve the final look and feel of a garment. However, this complexity also opens the door to valuable collaboration. We work closely with manufacturers, brands and supply chain partners to find innovative solutions that deliver the best performance, balancing costs and impact. Ultimately, buying power lies with our customers, which is why we invest heavily in transparency and education. Through workshops, we invite clients to witness each step of garment development, showcasing how our solutions work in practice.

Serdar Demircioğ lu: The relationship between chemical companies, tech suppliers, manufacturers and brands is collaborative, with each player contributing to the overall success of the product development process. Ultimately, brands have the final say in terms of chemical choices, as they control the supply chain and purchasing decisions. However, manufacturers often influence these decisions by recommending specific chemicals based on cost-effectiveness and application efficiency.

Are there any products that you feel have yet to make the impact they deserve in the market?

Peter Zinser: Yes, our above-mentioned NCD process deserves to have more impact. Think about it: roughly 80,000 tonnes of hydrosulfite are used in the denim dyeing application. The whole amount could be replaced by a natural product. This would be a huge step in the right direction. Our partner Naveena, Lahore approached a major retailer...guess what? Even though it is a similar cost as the current dyeing process, they are not interested. If it was 20% cheaper than the current fabric, they would be interested. To me, this is a shame. But I'm confident that we will find some other ways to get the hydrosulfite-free denim in the market. Maybe not through the big retailers but through the smaller retailers, which are open to listening to us. We have some promising talks ongoing.

Thomas Aplas: For me, these are the new, modern products that have been developed with the aim of making the incredibly innovative machine technologies even more efficient. Recent history has shown that the combination of specialty chemical products and the latest machine technology opens up possibilities that previously seemed unthinkable. My favourite example is ozone technology. With specially developed chemical products, this sustainable machine technology can be raised to a very high level of efficiency on a sustainable basis. It is this type of innovation that deserves more of a breakthrough.

Luca Braschi: This question isn’t easy to answer, chemical innovation evolves rapidly. Market dynamics often favour quicker solutions at the expense of product categories with greater potential, such as natural dyes.

Andrea Venier: Absolutely. One of our standout innovations is Recycrom: it’s a truly circular solution, combining creativity and sustainability to offer an alternative to traditional synthetic dyes. However, while the potential is undeniable, it hasn’t yet achieved the market adoption we hoped for. That’s why we’re dedicating significant resources to overcome its limitations and make it accessible at an industrial scale.

Serdar Demircioğ lu: Ozone technology has gained traction in the laundry industry as a sustainable way to create fading effects in denim, but ozone activators that enhance its bleaching potential are underused. These activators make the ozone process more efficient and consistent while reducing the overall chemical footprint. And this technology significantly reduces water and chemical use in denim processing. As sustainability becomes increasingly important to brands and consumers, ozone activators will be a game-changer in reducing environmental impact while achieving the desired aesthetic.

How do you see the industry changing, in terms of how regulations might affect chemicals, or traceability etc?

Peter Zinser: From my experience of more than 40 years in the industry, I have to admit, I'm quite disillusioned. It's a huge task to regulate a globalised industry. The regulators are often far away from the companies that are affected, for instance in China or the Indian subcontinent. We have been faced with more and more regulations, with questionable impact. Truthfully, the industry is not really regulated by neutral institutions but by self-appointed companies. Their mission sounds good, but the truth is they want to make money. Think of the number of greenwashing certificates we see when we go shopping for clothes. For years we have offered a QR code that allows full transparency of our products, one page with all production details, such as raw materials used, water consumption, etc. – but no response. No retailer is interested in really enlightening the consumers. They fear It could compromise their branding.

Luca Braschi: The industry has already changed significantly over the past decade, thanks to a growing awareness. However, it’s still not enough; many productions continue to rely on unsustainable chemicals. We must also question if alternatives are always better than conventional methods, to avoid greenwashing. There’s definitely room for improvement in traceability and stricter regulations. Ideally, we’d like to have a single certification that speaks for the entire industry.

Alberto de Conti: The industry is moving toward stricter regulations and greater transparency. Traceability is becoming a key focus, with brands and consumers demanding full visibility into the supply chain. Regulations will continue to push the industry toward safer, greener chemicals, and companies that invest in innovation and transparency will thrive in this evolving landscape.

Andrea Venier: The landscape of regulations and certifications is evolving rapidly, and while traceability is becoming more important, the complexity of standards can sometimes create confusion. The industry is flooded with multiple certifications, many of which are not fully understood by end consumers. We believe the solution lies in simplification and unification. Imagine a scenario where the industry follows a clear, standardised guideline – something akin to an ISO Standard for safer chemicals. This would not only make compliance easier but also offer 100% transparency to consumers, empowering them to make informed choices. Regulations have undoubtedly helped us move towards safer, more reliable products, but we need to ensure our communication is just as clear.

Ozone technology has gained traction but ozone activators are still underused.

SERDAR DEMIRCIOĞLU, KAISER TEKSTIL

Serdar Demircioğ lu: As governments and international organisations tighten regulations on water usage, chemical emissions and waste disposal, denim producers will increasingly be held accountable for their environmental impact. The need for traceability will push chemical suppliers and manufacturers to adopt transparent and easily traceable chemical formulations. Brands will demand clear documentation on chemical usage, disposal methods and sustainability certifications. Regulations will likely demand that the use of harmful chemicals like PP and chlorinated compounds be minimised or eliminated. Chemical companies will be required to develop solutions that support closed-loop systems, where chemicals can be reused, and water can be treated and recycled. This could lead to innovations like chemical recycling agents that help break down fabric fibres for reuse or chemicals that can be efficiently recycled and repurposed after each wash. Chemical suppliers will need to work closely with manufacturers to provide the documentation and certifications that verify their products meet regulatory standards. We may also see increased use of third-party audits of chemical use in textile production.

How does your expertise make denim better?

Peter Zinser: Magic sometimes doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Our NCD process proves it.

Luca Braschi: Years of industry experience and expertise are a valuable asset, especially when used to solve and improve current production processes. We believe in fostering partnerships between industry players, supporting each other along the way. That’s why we created the Soko Projects Division, where we offer tailored solutions to meet the needs of brands, fabric producers, designers and contractors.

Alberto de Conti: Our expertise lies in understanding the chemistry of denim at every stage, from dyeing and finishing to washing and finishing. We’ve developed technologies like the Offuel, a range of chemical auxiliaries based almost entirely (at least 90%) on alternatives to crude oil. By combining innovation with sustainability, we’re helping to redefine what denim can be.

Andrea Venier: Our Development Centre is at the heart of everything we do. It allows us to stay in tune with the challenges our clients face daily, offering a unique perspective on market needs and emerging trends. This deep connection fuels our continuous research and development, enabling us to refine existing solutions and introduce new processes that meet the industry’s evolving demands.

Serdar Demircioğ lu: In essence, our expertise makes denim better by enhancing its aesthetics, improving sustainability and delivering superior performance through innovative, safer chemical solutions.

This Roundtable was edited due to space restrictions – a longer version will be available at www.insidedenim.com

AllSaints’ head of women’s denim, Mariella Ertl, tells Inside Denim how close relationships with suppliers are vital as the brand expands globally.

Heavenly collection

London-based fashion retailer AllSaints has declared 2025 “all about denim” and celebrated the launch of its new collection with the help of contemporary artist Ian Berry – who adorned its flagship Regent Street store with a version of his famous Secret Garden installation. “We knew he could create something unforgettable to celebrate the launch of our new range,” said a spokesperson. The brand, which operates 250 stores in 27 countries, has “reimagined” the denim offering, with new styles and refreshes of its classics, including barrel, cropped, bootcut, skinny, slim, relaxed and wide leg.

How did Ian Berry help you to celebrate the new-season launches? At the beginning of this season, we were thrilled to collaborate with Ian Berry, who created a stunning window installation at our Regent Street store – entirely crafted from denim. Ian’s artwork beautifully reimagines denim as a natural, plant-based material, symbolising the journey from cotton to fabric and back to nature. This installation was the perfect backdrop for the launch of our Spring Collection, which draws inspiration from themes of metamorphosis and rebirth.

Another exciting collaboration this season was with artist Dave Buonaguidi, aka Real Hackney Dave. He created an exclusive line of denim patches for us, adding yet another layer of artistry to our collection!

What are the main trends, and can you tell us a little about the new collection?

I’m not particularly fond of the word ‘trends’ when it comes to denim. For me, denim is about creating pieces that feel timeless yet contemporary. We aim to set our own direction rather than simply follow trends. This means incorporating embellishments, prints and thoughtful details to keep our designs fresh and relevant, while ensuring they remain versatile and enduring. I enjoy designing classic denim pieces and giving them an unexpected twist – like pairing a vintage wash with a bold, shiny gold button. It’s about creating contrasts that are unique to denim.

This season, we’re introducing new wide-leg silhouettes with displaced seams and asymmetric hems, straight legs with crossover waistband details, barrel-leg silhouettes and bootcut jeans (a customer favourite!). Embellishment and studs are another key element of this collection – our customer can choose between unembellished and limited-edition, hand embellished versions of the same silhouette and wash. We’re also offering garment and sustainable fabric coatings, pushing boundaries in both texture and finish. I'm proud to say that over 90% of our womenswear denim collection is made in Turkey using the best Turkish fabrics.

As AllSaints opens stores globally, how do you react to different markets, and what do you have to keep in mind as you expand? Do you have a core vision for all your customers?

As AllSaints expands globally, we embrace the diversity of our markets and their unique tastes, but we also stay grounded in our core vision. Denim is a universal language, but each market brings its own cultural influences and preferences. When responding to trends in different regions, we keep in mind that our goal is to design denim that feels both authentic to the brand and relevant to local customers. We pay attention to the local climate, lifestyle and style preferences – whether it's the demand for more relaxed fits in one region or the popularity of more fitted styles in another. However, at the heart of everything we do is our commitment to creating timeless, high-quality denim with a modern edge. Regardless of the market, we stay true to our values of craftsmanship, sustainability and innovation. We believe that denim should be versatile, durable and designed to be worn by people all over the world, which is why we make sure that every piece we design is adaptable to various tastes without compromising on our brand ethos. Our core vision is to offer pieces that feel personal, elevate everyday style and stand the test of time, no matter where our customers are.

Without denim, nothing else shines quite as bright.

With updated fabrics and embellishments, most of AllSaints’ denim comes from Turkish mill partners.

PHOTOS: ALLSAINTS

On a more personal level, what made you gravitate towards working in the denim sector, and what do you like most about it?

My journey into the denim sector happened by chance, and it feels like fate. While studying, I won an internship at a German denim brand, which led me to work on my first denim project in their pattern room and laundry. I fell in love with the hands-on approach, watching raw fabric transform through dry process and washing. Before pursuing denim, I had studied interior design, and I quickly noticed the parallels between the two fields. Both denim and interior design are about creating environments that feel lived-in and personal. It’s about balancing texture, colour, and form to evoke mood and tell stories. Whether it's a piece of furniture or a pair of jeans, the goal is to design something people connect with on a personal level, which I find incredibly rewarding.

Denim is for everyone. It’s a staple in almost every wardrobe, the cornerstone of countless looks. A great pair of jeans evolves with you, becoming uniquely yours over time. At its core, denim is humble. It may not always be the ‘star’ of a collection, but without it, nothing else shines quite as bright. It’s the quiet foundation that holds everything together.

What do you look for in your suppliers, and how do you work together to bring your vision to life?

I love working with our suppliers! The relationship I have with them is crucial to bringing our vision to life. From pattern making to wash techniques, thread colours, distressing and trims, every detail is like a piece of a puzzle that comes together through collaboration. Our suppliers’ creativity and flexibility are key – they’re always willing to try new ideas, even when they seem challenging. It’s amazing what they can achieve when we work closely together.

AllSaints enlisted Ian Berry, with his Secret Garden denim installation, to help launch the new collections – All About Denim.

Bringing my vision to life is a dynamic process that varies with each design. Every garment has its own story, and I approach each one differently. Sometimes, it starts with hands-on work in the atelier, where I create patterns, draw directly onto garments, cut them and reassemble them in new ways. Other times, it begins with sketches that evolve as we collaborate. I also get a lot of inspiration from vintage clothing, translating those timeless elements into modern pieces. With our office near Brick Lane in London, I’m constantly inspired by the creativity around me!

I speak to our suppliers every day, refining fabric choices, trims and experimenting with washes. Their expertise is vital in turning concepts into reality. Over time, they’ve become more than just business partners, they’ve become team members and friends, and I’m very grateful for them.

What role does circularity play in the denim sector, and where do you see this heading?

The denim industry is evolving, and I believe the future lies in a world where recycling, longevity, and responsible production are the norm. Denim used to be one of the most environmentally taxing industries, but it’s also one of the quickest to address and correct these issues. The shift towards circularity is closely linked to broader environmental goals, tackling issues like textile waste and overconsumption.

I love working with mills like Isko, whose Ctrl+Z concept eliminates the use of virgin cotton, and I admire Evlox and Realteks’ regenerative cotton initiative. Our suppliers are pioneers in sustainability, using advanced laundries and techniques that minimise waste and water usage. We’ve also introduced a repair service at AllSaints, which could extend to our denim in the future. And with our clothing rental service, we’re taking another step towards a more circular approach. Circularity is still a work in progress, but it’s one we’re excited to be a part of.

How do you keep yourself informed about the latest fabric/fibre/chemistry developments? Are there any that you’re particularly excited about?

I meet with fabric suppliers and mills regularly in our east London studio, they are the heart of innovation really! They’re constantly developing new fibres, fabrics and treatments. I’m always in awe of their knowledge and expertise and take in every bit of information like a sponge. These conversations not only keep me informed but also inspire my design direction, giving me fresh ideas for each collection.

Cotton remains a staple for me, it’s humble but incredibly versatile. I’m particularly excited about the evolution of rigid vintage fabrics. In the past, achieving that authentic vintage look meant using heavy, rigid stiff denim. Today, you can capture the same aesthetic with softer, lighter fabrics without compromising on comfort.

Realteks’ NAIA (Eastman) fibre-blended fabrics are an exciting development. Made from responsibly sourced wood pulp and consumer waste, Eastman NAIA offers a soft, Tencel-like feel with added shine and brightness. I’m also impressed by the growing number of mills introducing biodegradable denim concepts; imagine a future where nothing ends up in landfill! What really excites me, though, is when mills approach sustainability holistically – using regenerative energy, reducing water usage and eliminating virgin cotton altogether. These forward-thinking practices are exactly what we need.

What are you looking forward to the most?

Spring and summer! Even though I love designing the autumn collection the most, it’s time for some sunshine here in the UK!

Mariella Ertl is head of women’s denim at UK brand and retailer AllSaints, where she has worked for 10 years. Before that, she worked as a denim designer at Scotch & Soda in Amsterdam and Bestseller in Denmark.

Jean-Vincent Simonet

The complexities of the denim supply chain could offer Chinese mills a means of side-stepping the 2025 tariff crisis.

No time for tariffs

Tariffs are the talk of the business world, but the favourite word of US president, Donald Trump, came up in few conversations at the Beyond Denim section of Intertextile Shanghai in March. Trade turmoil seems to be raging everywhere else. At the start of March, the US doubled existing tariffs on imports from China to 20%. Measures against Canada and Mexico were part of the same announcement, but within a couple of days, the US had delayed by a month imposing extra tariffs on its immediate neighbours. There was no delay for China; the extra charges began to apply right away.

In response, China said it would levy additional tariffs of its own of 15% on a number of products it imports from the US, including cotton. And as the spring 2025 edition of the textiles event got under way, tensions rose further when President Trump suggested charging extra fees for any ship built in China or flying China’s flag. In this context, the mood in hall 7.2 of the National Exhibition and Convention Centre was surprisingly upbeat.

Beyond Denim attracted around 85 exhibitors to the March edition of Intertextile Shanghai and more than 90% of them were Chinese companies. At one of these, Xin Chang Jing, group vice-president, Catz Chan, explains that there are two reasons, in her opinion, why she and her fellow exhibitors had matters other than the tariffs on their minds.

Ms Chan has international customers and does business with big-name brands, but says around 95% of the denim fabric its mill in Taishan in Guangdong province produces is for the domestic market. And when international buyers choose Xin Chang denim fabric, they usually ask the manufacturing partners who make finished jeans for them to place the order. “Those manufacturing partners are, typically, in Bangladesh and Vietnam,” Ms Chan continues,“ which means we do not ship directly to the US, so the tariffs don’t apply.

Reflected glory

Xin Chang seems content with the situation and believes the orders will continue to flow. It has a large production capacity; the mill in Taishan can make 275,000 metres of denim fabric every day; last year, it sold almost 55 million metres in total. It has also built up among its customers a good reputation as an innovator. Recently developed ranges that have gone down well, according to overseas business manager, Cember Zhong, include a collection of vintage denim fabrics, another with what the company claims are advances in stretch, and another with special cooling technology in the finish.

“The cooling technology makes a difference,” Ms Zhong says. “It means, for example, that you can be comfortable wearing a denim jacket in summer. And thanks to the finish, the denim can provide protection from ultraviolet radiation. There is no compromise on hand-feel; we worked for years to get the feel of fabrics with this finish just right.”

For Catz Chan, most Chinese denim mills have a similar set-up to Xin Chang’s. The multi-layered supply chain already in place in the global denim market seems to be giving Chinese mills confidence that they can sidestep the tariff dispute.

Business as usual

Senior sales executive at Kipas Textiles, Esra Kula, says this makes sense. Turkey, where Kipas is based, faces no specific threat of an increase in tariffs at the moment and its business with US fashion brands can continue as normal. Business as usual means the fabric it produces at its mill in Kahramanmaras province can go to the group’s own finished garment production division or to partner manufacturers outside Turkey. “We do have US fashion brands as customers, Ms Kula explains, “but in very few cases is there a US address on the invoices we send.”

She welcomes this because things are already complicated enough for Kipas and for other mills in Turkey. Orders are strong and production is running at close to full capacity, but the country is facing inflation levels of 40%. Separately, the pain and perplexity of the devastating earthquake that hit Kahramanmaras and other textile-focused provinces in February 2023 have still not gone away entirely. “We lost colleagues,” Ms Kula says. “Many of the people who had to move away have now been able to come back, and the situation of many families who were living in temporary accommodation, including in quickly adapted shipping containers, has now improved. But because the rebuilding of homes has become a huge priority in the region, lots of people have left the textiles industry and have gone to work in well paid jobs in construction instead. This means finding experienced textile workers has become very difficult.”

If the opportunity arises

Like Turkey, a third denim-manufacturing country, Pakistan, has no involvement in the big trade disputes of the day. And like Esra Kula, the general manager for denim business marketing at Azgard Nine, Nauman Ahmad, is relieved. More than that, he wonders aloud if, in the event of the tensions continuing, Pakistan could even be in a position to benefit. “It would take time for that to filter through,” he says, “but we have the quality, the materials and the workforce and we could be a good option for brands that decide to source denim and jeans outside China to avoid the tariffs.”

He points out that Pakistan has good-quality cotton fibre, yarn, fabrics and finished garment manufacturers. “We have a whole vertically integrated denim supply chain,” Mr Ahmad says. “We also have considerable expertise in stretch denim, purely because we have had years of practice in combining cotton and elastane yarns and in finishing the fabrics we create from them.”

Advanced technology

If this expertise creates new openings for Pakistan, it need not be at the expense of China. The organiser of Intertextile Shanghai, Messe Frankfurt, has expressed confidence in China’s ability to maintain a leading position in the global textile industry, in spite of the trade tensions and in the face of keen competition. Managing director of Messe Frankfurt’s Hong Kong division, Wendy Wen, says the industry in China continues to evolve and that high levels of innovation in materials and in production, now involving artificial intelligence, digital solutions and other advanced technology, are in evidence there. “In the last few years,” she adds, “sustainability has become a big topic for Chinese manufacturers and companies have worked hard to become compliant with regulations in the European Union, the US and elsewhere. Domestically, brands and consumers in China have also become sustainability-conscious and suppliers are responding. Chinese textile companies are more focused on sustainable design now than ever before.” She says these developments and the completeness of the textile supply chain there, mean China will remain “a major player”, in spite of current challenges. “China is very advanced,” Ms Wen says.

(Left:) Xin Chang Jing, group vice-president, Catz Chan.

(Right:) No compromise on hand-feel. Xin Chang’s Cember Zhong says the Chinese mill spent years making sure the feel of its cooling-effect denim would be just right.

Call for collective action

At the end of 2024, denim and wider fashion innovation platform

Transformers Foundation launched a new report called ‘Collective Action Reimagined: A Call for Fair Process and Supplier Inclusion in Fashion’s Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives’. It describes the report as an exploration of “the systemic barriers” preventing meaningful supplier engagement in some of the industry’s most influential multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs).

Among the initiatives the report focuses on are Cascale (formerly the Sustainable Apparel Coalition), Textile Exchange, the Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP), and Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC), all of which have had an influence on the denim industry in recent years.

It decided to focus on these four groups because they all formally include suppliers among their members and signatories. These four MSIs are also “highly influential industry conveners”, it says. But it adds that the findings of the report should resonate “far beyond these four”. It compiled the report after a series of interviews with people it calls “key informants within the fashion supply chain”. It describes the interviewees as people who have in-depth, first-hand experience and close knowledge of MSI supplier engagement.

Cycle of distrust

The report says rules, governance and processes “often perpetuate supplier exclusion”. The organisations, though well-intentioned, often reinforce barriers that limit supplier participation, leading to what it calls “a cycle of distrust, disengagement and ineffective sustainability strategies”.

It calls for the adoption of a ‘fair process’ model. This would be based on non-biased decision-making, equitable engagement and transparency.

Transformers Foundation says its aim is to turn MSIs into “true platforms for collective action”.

A founding member of Transformers Foundation, Tricia Carey, the former director of global business development for denim at Lenzing and chief commercial officer of Renewcell, was one of the contributors to the report. She believes MSIs have an important role to play. In her view, the challenges supplier organisations flag up here “concern all stakeholders equally”, especially when they focus, as so many MSIs do, on decarbonisation or circularity.

Transformers Foundation is calling for change in the way multi-stakeholder initiatives operate, ending supplier exclusion and changing these groups into genuine platforms for collective action.

Another contributor, Alberto de Conti, head of marketing and fashion at chemicals group Rudolf, observes that the report is correct to refer to many MSIs as de facto makers of standards. But he says this has led to overlaps and that these are a major source of frustration for suppliers and a contributing factor in provoking the disengagement the report warns about.

Built-in inequity

The report pulls no punches. Drawing on what Harvard University Professor Sven Beckert wrote in his 2015 book ‘Empire of Cotton: A Global History’, the Transformers Foundation document says: “The fashion industry is closely tied to colonialism and slavery, originating during a period of Global North control of the Global South for the purpose of resource- and value-extraction, often in the service of apparel and textiles.” It insists some of these complications are baked into the way MSIs in the textiles and apparel sector of the twenty-first century run.

‘Collective Action Reimagined’ talks of “structural tensions” in the supply chains of the fashion sector, including denim’s. It points out that these tensions stem from “deep-rooted inequities” in global supply chains and, from there, seep into MSI dynamics. It claims: “Suppliers, especially those from the Global South, face significant resource disparities that severely limit their participation in MSIs compared to brands and retailers. Moreover, implicit bias further warps outcomes and can lead to deep wounds and silencing.”

It makes reference to “functional tensions” too. These are the result of the ways in which MSIs draw up their own rules and processes, how they develop their tools and standards, how they distribute power, even how they facilitate meetings and organise their activities. These, too, are factors that “profoundly impact suppliers’ ability to engage”, Transformers Foundation states.

After hours

For the report, it interviewed suppliers, who said even the times and dates on which meetings, including online discussions, take place “are structured to privilege Global North participants in MSIs”. They are often scheduled to accommodate the working hours of MSI members who work in North America or Europe and can result in participants in countries in Asia having to stay online long after normal business hours to join in. Suppliers in Muslim countries have, historically, found it difficult to take part in meetings on Fridays. In many Muslim countries, including Bangladesh and Egypt, Friday is part of the weekend. Many also adjust the standard working hours during Ramadan. One supplier complained to the authors of the report that MSIs consistently fail to take this special timetable into account when arranging meetings.

If brands and retailers turn their backs on suppliers, multi-stakeholder initiatives will find it impossible to fulfil the missions they have set themselves.

PHOTO: H&M

Based on this analysis, its conclusion is that “structural and functional exclusion” can easily lead to supplier burnout. Hitting the moving target of compliance with standards is difficult. Preparing for customer visits absorbs time and resources. Undergoing a wide variety of audits, one after another, can be exhausting. The phrase ‘audit fatigue’ did not come into the industry’s lexicon by accident. One of the MSIs at the centre of Transformers Foundation’s report, SLCP, has made audit fatigue one of its specialist areas of interest. It says audit fatigue “has been a burden on suppliers for decades”.

Tales abound in the supplier community of buyer-led MSIs insisting on high levels of performance to meet the demands of certification, only for the same buyers later to refuse to adjust prices slightly upwards to help finance all the investment and changes required on the ground. Instead, at the mention of price increases, buyers have sometimes started afresh with slightly cheaper, new suppliers, urging them to sally forth on the same steps towards certification.

Common goals

If key stakeholders, including suppliers, remain disengaged, the report says, MSIs are likely to continue to produce “biased, one-sided strategies that fuel the cycle of supplier exclusion”. Excluding suppliers from dialogue and decision-making is unjust and also has serious implications for what Transformers Foundation calls “our common goals”. These goals include improving the industry’s battle against climate change and its efforts to improve chemical management.

A call to help bring common goals to fruition should make its mark on all MSIs, and especially on the four that ‘Collective Action Reimagined’ focuses on. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition, for example, explained that one of the reasons for changing its name in 2024 is that Cascale refers to ‘collective action at scale’. Taking advantage of the right of reply that Transformers Foundation offered to include in the report, Cascale acknowledged that concerns exist “about fair process and equitable representation across our diverse membership”.

Cascale had more than 300 members at the time of the report’s publication, 68 of them manufacturers. It says that an update to one of its sustainability assessment tools, the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM), in 2023 incorporated input from 140 representatives of its member organisations. In total, 62 of those inputs came from representatives of manufacturers, giving suppliers the largest representation in this exercise of any stakeholder group.

Transformers Foundation’s report calling for collective action to be reimagined can be a positive step forward for multi-stakeholder initiatives.

PHOTO: H&M

Feedback the ‘Collective Action Reimagined’ report’s authors collected from suppliers included comments that Cascale’s processes “feel collaborative” and that tools, including FEM “feel co-created”. But other respondents commented that suppliers have struggled to have “true influence over [Cascale’s] processes and goals”.

More inclusive

In its formal response, SLCP says the report offers it “a good reference” on where this MSI has made progress. It launched as a Sustainable Apparel Coalition pilot in 2015 but now operates as an independent non-profit that aims to “harmonise social and labour assessments”. SLCP, in its own eyes, has made progress in transparency, facility ownership and governance. “We are proud of the achievements we’ve made in reducing audit fatigue,” it adds. Its response says the report also flags up areas in which it has opportunities to improve, which include mitigation strategies to reduce bias, and openness to “different outcomes”. A response from Textile Exchange also features. The oldest of the MSIs that the report focuses on, Textile Exchange began life as Organic Exchange in 2002 and set out to promote organic fibre farming. It took its current name in 2007 and now oversees seven fibre standards as well as offering certification products. Its response to ‘Collective Action Reimagined’ is brief. It says it is in the process of implementing “organisational shifts” that will help it make its decision-making “more transparent and inclusive of stakeholder voices”.

Impossible to ignore

The fourth of the MSIs to earn frequent name-checks in the report, ZDHC, did not give a formal response, but its implementation director, Klaas Nuttbohm, was one of the document’s reviewers. Since its launch in 2011, chemicals-focused ZDHC had amassed 217 signatories by the time of the report’s publication. It describes 49 of these as suppliers and a further 59 as chemical formulators. It works to encourage all of its signatories to phase out hazardous chemicals from the textile, apparel, leather and footwear value chains. It has a manufacturing restricted substances list, guidance documents and tools to help companies achieve this, describing the whole offering as the Roadmap to Zero programme. A representative of one of the signatories told Transformers Foundation that such high levels of collective knowledge and experience have now built up in ZDHC that this MSI is “impossible to ignore”.

Painful memory

But other anecdotal evidence is less positive. An incident that occurred years ago still made a big enough impact on the report’s authors for them to devote several paragraphs to it. At a ZDHC meeting in Shanghai, a supplier from Asia shared that his company found it impossible at that time to make some formulations, including denim finishes, without

using chemicals that were banned by ZDHC. He requested that brands make sure products can be “made cleanly” before asking their suppliers to manufacture them.

This drew an angry retort from the representative of another ZDHC signatory at the meeting, described in ‘Collective Action Reimagined’ as a low-price retail group based in the UK with (allegedly) poor sustainability credentials. The reply was that the retail company would only talk to the supplier about making products cleanly when the supplier was “ready to have a grown-up conversation”. This went down badly and led to accusations of “implied racism and attempts to delegitimise the supplier company”, the Transformers Foundation report says.

Change of approach

Following the report’s publication, ZDHC shared some comments with us. It says it recognises that the role suppliers play in driving fashion industry-wide environmental improvements is vital. It adds that it shares Transformers Foundation’s commitment to “addressing barriers and fostering inclusive participation”. It points out that it has implemented “robust mechanisms” to make sure of active supplier participation in its own programme and insists that supplier insights “shape decision-making” at every level.

“We acknowledge the complexities of supplier engagement in multi-stakeholder programmes,” it continues. “Many suppliers face resource constraints and often look to their clients for direction. ZDHC is actively working to bridge this gap.” This activity includes having regional teams that provide on-the-ground support in “key manufacturing countries”, addressing supplier needs and challenges. It has also put in place regular feedback mechanisms, including surveys and interviews, to refine its programmes and tools based on supplier input.

Transformers Foundation’s own conclusion is that a change in MSIs’ approach to supplier inclusion is a must if they are to drive genuine progress in the industry.

The integrated solution in combination with laser and ozone applied on raw garments

A hub for positive denim

“It’s been like having the brakes on for years and all of a sudden we're an F1 car,” says LaundRe co-founder Salli Deighton, describing the progress at its new-found home – an expansive warehouse in Canning Town, east London; five minutes from the nearest tube station and 10 minutes from London City Airport. After years of planning and fundraising, the project is getting ready to start welcoming its first visitors. “I’m finally delivering the vision we have seen – and stressing over pipe size, flanges and media is making me very happy!”

The ambitious initiative – to bring a laundry R&D and refinishing centre to the UK – was inspired by Salli’s conversations with retailers desperate to find avenues for warehouses full of unsold stock during the pandemic. Although exacerbated by store closures, this highlighted a wider problem of unsustainable buying practices, she says – for instance where mid-range or small retailers buy to meet minimum order quantities but then only sell a portion. One of the beauties of denim is that it can be changed: rewashed, finished or lasered, creating different options and opportunities for newness. Keeping volumes at under 500 pieces, LaundRe will enable UK brands to be nimble and respond to best sellers quickly. “Rather than buying lots of stock you don’t need, bring it in raw, test and trial it with us,” says Salli. “We’re giving brands the opportunity to be more responsible. Unless a buyer is senior, they might not have had the chance to visit overseas laundries, and some might be nervous to admit they don’t know the chemistry and processing behind denim distressing and finishing. Retail teams can come in, learn and develop their collections.” If something sells well, LaundRe will share the recipes with suppliers to make bigger volumes.

A London-based centre for refinishing, education and collaboration, LaundRe is opening its doors in Canning Town.

As with many start-ups, convincing people of the vision and securing the funding was a challenge initially, but the target was met last autumn. Salli and finance director Kelly Farewell secured backers including a grant from Creative England and some private investment. The business model is multipronged – LaundRe also aims to become a valuable partner in the UK’s nascent circular textiles infrastructure, which pulls together collectors, sorters and recyclers. Various pilots are under way, including those linked with UK Fashion and Textiles Association-driven consortia of circular fashion experts. “If we can make these old garments new, it’s the cheapest and fastest circular route to market,” says Salli. LaundRe’s location close to a major clothing sorter is no coincidence, with stakeholders excited to see how they can work together to make used garments sellable again.

FACTORY TALK: LAUNDRE

A view of the fully eco-certified laundry at Canlioglu in Istanbul. ALL PHOTOS: TILMANN WRÖBEL

Salli Deighton and Rowan Hunt. ALL PHOTOS: LAUNDRE

We can build collections from day one with our wonderful denim community and friends.

SALLI DEIGHTON, LAUNDRE

At Kingpins Amsterdam in April 2024, the team showed results of a pilot that refinished and refurbished dirty thrown-away jeans with a “really good hit rate”. Salli comments that the support from the show’s team and its visitors has been “phenomenal”. “A lot of the premium brands asked if we can refinish old stock or customer returns, so that will be another pilot,” she adds.

Cutting-edge tech

Workers at the DEL denim making facility.

The facility will feature Jeanologia technology, including laser and two R&D units, plus ozone, low water washers with nebulising systems and the latest eco dryer. It will only use clean processes and chemicals, following a model in Italy. “We won’t be able to garment dye, so we will have some limitations, but we have plenty of technology. The younger brands are embracing technology in a different way.”

Another strand of the business will be to teach new designers to approach garment creation holistically – for instance, by knowing more about sustainable fibres and dyes, they can order fabrics that are easier to finish. This skill isn’t widely taught. “If the fabric is a challenge, it will cost more to process it, but if it’s laser friendly, we can get a better level of detail, so it’s about teaching these concepts at the start of the process. We want to build the knowledge so we can educate the next generation to be more responsible buyers.”

The site will also enable mills or suppliers to host workshops, as well as offering in-house training by the LaundRe team, which includes denim consultant Rowan Hunt and laundry expert Idrish Munshi, with a plan to grow the staff to 12 in year two. “It will be the first female-led laundry – I don’t know another that has women running it,” she adds. “The team cares passionately about changing how we do things in the UK; it is not currently in sync with circularity or helping the planet.”

The need to change now is pressing, driven in part by incoming legislation, with companies keen to become more sustainable but sometimes unsure of what – and how – they need to change. “They are under pressure to deliver on price and there’s a want to be more circular, but there’s no real resource at the moment to help them. We will offer a place to solve the problem. We have a lot of brands and retailers behind us.”

The denim community at large is also behind them, she adds, with multiple offers of help and support. “We can build collections and a library from day one with our wonderful denim community and friends. It will be a hub for positive denim,” she adds. “Some industry people thought we were crazy to set up a laundry in London, but now their narrative has changed – now they see there is a real opportunity, and there’s a lot of excitement.”

The multifunctional space will include facilities for refinishing unsold stock, near-shore finishing and R&D focused on bringing waste denim back to life, trialling new chemical recipes and upskilling UK professionals.

Full throttle

From Marlon Brando to Peter Fonda, jeans have always been associated with cool motorcycle heroes. The rebel-at-heart biker clad in washed-out and worn-in jeans is an undisputed iconic image. But while early riders wearing basic cotton jeans may have looked damn cool, they exposed their bodies to serious damage in the event of an accident. Today’s biker heroes can take to the road safely protected by fit-for-purpose technical denim fabrics and jeans manufacturing.

You may have noticed that your local motorcycle shop now offers a wider range of specialised garments, including many technical jeans. You might think this is just another niche market, but my experience working in the pioneering days of the skate and surf wear industry tells me that its potential to become an important segment of the denim market is just around the corner.

The jeans sold by motorcycle retailers are often the result of a compromise between look and function. Function in this case is synonymous with true protection, and it naturally takes precedence over style and aesthetics.

FACTORY TALK: MENTOR

The speed, the adrenaline rush… Thanks to innovation in denim, the biker dream of experiencing the roar of a full-throttle engine wearing a cool-looking pair of jeans is now possible. This is what Mentor’s highly skilled team in Istanbul excels at: making motorcycle denim that looks like real denim.

But this is changing, and it is now possible to offer both serious abrasion protection and a proper denim look (read: matte cotton look). Thanks to innovators such as Pierre-Henry Servajean, the creator of Armalith with Royotec, and innovative fabrics made from Dyneema, Kevlar or Cordura, cool motorcycle denim washes, looks and finishes can now be achieved. And this is how brands, such as AlpineStar, BMW, Furygan, Ixon and Bolid’ster, are introducing a new breed of jeans to the market.

A view of the fully eco-certified laundry at Canlioglu in Istanbul. ALL PHOTOS: TILMANN WRÖBEL

A new breed of jeans

The fabrics offering suitable protection are available, but to achieve the right look, they need the special touch of true denim experts. Let me introduce you to my Turkish friends and their fantastic washing facility.

In the early 2000s, Ayhan Canlioglu and his partners founded Canlioglu Tekstil. It quickly became recognised as an innovative, reliable and responsible denim garment manufacturer. Its facilities, located in Istanbul, have grown to 15,000 square metres and more than 300 employees. The sustainability-driven factory works for leading European denim brands and carries GOTS, GRS, OCS and RCS certifications.

Workers at the DEL denim making facility.

All well and good, but not my point. Maruf Canlioglu, Ayhan’s son, who grew up in the denim industry, has followed in his father’s footsteps and introduced a fresh and relevant idea.

Let’s first zoom out on the bigger picture. Textiles, fashion and denim are global industries that are sensitive to geopolitical trends. A change in tariffs or inflation can turn an ideal apparel sourcing destination into a nightmare overnight. This is why buyers travel the world to find better prices, better services, all at the same quality. But in denim, quality alone is not enough, you also need to have a precise feel for washes, laundering techniques, manufacturing methods, assembly, and simple, down-to-earth denim know-how. Sometimes it is not worth changing factory just for the sake of price.

Maruf Canlioglu’s idea was to increase the relevance of Istanbul in the world of denim and capitalise on a strong existing know-how in jeans making. He was tasked with setting up a new technical unit within the Cianlioglu company. It was to be a performance-oriented division specialising in mostly denim equestrian, hiking, climbing, work and motorcycle clothing. This meant developing true technical skills and competence in making functional apparel. The design stage may well start with a denim fabric, but it goes far beyond adding a mesh panel or a fancy yoke design to a basic garment.

(Left:) Maruf Canlioglu is the son of Ayhan Canlioglu who founded the company in the early 2000s.

(Right:) Mentor works for leading functional denim brands; Triumph is a long-standing customer.

Specific standards

To manufacture motorcycle clothing, a company must meet the requirements of international certifications, understand how to make mandatory safety stitching, and know what treatments are allowed, or not, on technical denim fabrics. It also needs to master the various protective inserts, along with the fine points of multior mono-layer denims. Finally, it must set up the logistics for the many trimmings, ingredient labels, and even consumer leaflets that typically accompany these functional jeans.

Mentor has fully acquired these skills and its clients include such household names as Audi, BMW and Triumph.

As a designer, I had the opportunity to work with Maruf and his team late last year to develop a highly technical and stylish mono-layer motorcycle denim range for a famous motorcycle brand that cannot yet be named. What struck me most on site at Mentor, apart from the skilled team, was its extensive washing expertise. If you have ever tried to make functional jeans from high-tech denim fabrics, you will know how difficult it is to achieve a stylish wash.

Mentor uses Canlioglu’s high-tech and low impact laundry, but if for some reason, in the middle of a development session, you feel stuck and want to try out a bit of this, or a bit of that, it can call on other partner laundries to achieve that subtle and elusive final touch. Within hours. Incredibly satisfying and a real pleasure.

In a perfect world, Maruf tells me, his next step would be to build a stand-alone facility for Mentor and take the lead in functional denim made in Turkey. After my wonderful experience in Istanbul last autumn, I sincerely wish him all the best – he deserves it.

Tilmann Wröbel is the founder of Monsieur-T, the ‘denim lifestyle’ studio. He started his career as a haute couture designer before moving into streetwear and denim. He has worked as a designer and consultant for some of the world’s top brands. He is based in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Biarritz, France.

MONSIEUR_T_OFFICIAL/PHOTO: CHRISTIAN GEYR

Lunasalt Denim, launched in 2009, selects premium selvedge and deadstock, including from Cone Mill's White Oak plant in Greensboro, and washes the jeans and jackets in oyster cages off the shore of Nantucket Island, eastern US, for between eight and 56 days, following lunar cycles. The saltwater softens the selvedge and sets the indigo into the cotton, the tides contributing to a distinctive fade. Patterns are also affected by water temperature and created by algae blooms, jingle shells and barnacles.

Mr Ruggiero also runs Grey Lady Raw Provisions Co, an events company that blends oyster culture, hospitality and storytelling.

PHOTOS: LUNASALT DENIM

CLOCKING ON...

After years in Manhattan, Lunasalt Denim founder Terrence Ruggiero swapped one busy island for another – moving to Nantucket to build a life shaped by the sea, denim, sailing and oysters.

A day in the off-season

6.30am

I wake up to my cats, Tash and Luna, pawing at me for breakfast. When I have the time, I start the morning with meditation and movement, or I simply take a quiet moment to reflect on my dreams. Coffee is a non-negotiable. I start with a Nespresso shot, a glass of water and a carefully prepared French press [cafetière]. I take my time, checking the weather and wind conditions while looking out at our snow-covered Hinoki Pine tree.

8.00am

With coffee in hand, I review Lunasalt Denim pre-orders and customer updates. At this time of year, our retail shop is closed, making online activity the focus. I check in on the tides, assessing the sea conditions before deciding if it’s a good day to be on the water.

9.00am

Dressed in denim, waxed canvas, and rubber boots, I head to the town dock to check on my boats. If the water is calm, I might take one out for a quick spin –otherwise, I return to my studio workspace in the cellar. I get to work on denim repairs, stitching patches and hardware installations.

11.00am

Breakfast is simple: eggs, sausage, avocado and hot sauce on an English muffin, paired with another espresso. I check in on social media, responding to messages and engaging with the Lunasalt community.

12.00pm

By midday, my focus shifts to the business side of Lunasalt Denim and Grey Lady Raw Provisions Co. This is when I handle inventory, logistics and planning for the upcoming season. I prioritise tasks I enjoy the least first –typically spreadsheets, product listings and backend updates. Creativity comes naturally, but managing the details ensures everything runs smoothly.

2.00pm

Afternoons are often filled with calls to shop owners, partners and collaborators. Some discussions revolve around business, while others are simply about staying connected. I update any action items from these conversations, then shift to content creation: editing product photos, website updates and social media assets.

4.00pm

Lunch is typically leftovers from the night before or a NY deli-style sandwich. If the weather allows, I take a drive to the beach for a sunset walk or visit an old cemetery with Tashtego, my cat. If it’s too cold, I opt for tea and a game of backgammon by the fireplace with my love.

7.00pm

My partner and I try to cook homemade meals whenever possible. If it’s Sunday, I’m making slow-simmered seafood sauce with pasta. In season, our fridge is stocked with fresh oysters, always ready to be shucked. Music plays throughout the evening. I take this time to check in with family and friends, reconnecting before winding down for the night.

10.00pm

After dinner, my creativity kicks back in. I might play music, experiment with sound, or record a podcast as a form of journaling. This is also when I dive into editing reels, YouTube videos or refining content for Lunasalt. Embracing my creative instincts at night keeps me inspired and motivated for the days ahead. Eventually, I call it a night – knowing that winter will soon give way to the fast-paced rhythm of spring.

MAGAZINES

Inside Denim

Keep up to date with denim developments from raw material to finished product with in-depth coverage of advances at fibre and fabric level.

(2 issues per year)

Sportstextiles

The international technical trade magazine for performance and sports materials.

(4 issues per year)

UK: £90.00

Airmail: £150

Footwearbiz

All you need to know to assist you in the global footwear market.

(4 issues per year)

UK: £90.00

Airmail: £150

World Leather

The world’s leading magazine for the leather industry.

(6 issues per year)

UK: £90.00

Airmail: £150

Websites

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